Jessie stared at the taller woman. “I really don’t think you want to know.”

“Tell me.”

Jessie sighed, figuring Breeze had a right to know. “They were calling her Mud and I guess tagged her with Monkey when she was younger. Those were the only two names she could remember.”

The tall New Species woman growled and spit out a string of curses that would have made a lifelong sailor blush. Jessie nodded in agreement. The two women stared at each other until Breeze’s anger faded.

“Thank you. It is a really good name you chose and it suits her. I think she might keep it and you did her a good favor.”

“Thanks.” Jessie smiled suddenly. “So, are you looking forward to getting some decent sleep now that you’re out of the hotel?”

Breeze laughed. “They sent Tammy and Valiant to his house for good. Justice said they need their privacy since they are married now. He has guards around their property to help Valiant keep her safe. Maybe it’s a human and Species thing but no one ever has sex as loudly as those two.”

Jessie managed to keep her smile in place—barely—remembering the night before.

She and Justice had been so loud they’d set off the security alarm. “Can I ask you something?”

“Sure.” Breeze led her into the kitchen to grab sodas from the fridge. She waved Jessie to a barstool. “Hit me! I love that saying.”

Jessie took a seat next to her. “The mixed couple that just got married, uh, he’s lion, right?”

“We believe so. We mostly guess at what we were mixed with since the records were destroyed. With his coloring and his personality we can assume he was mixed with that DNA. What about him?”

“I met Justice North and he has the same kind of eyes as Valiant. Is he lion?” That would explain the roar after sex.

“His coloring is not right. In my free time I’m studying animals. I wanted to guess better what some of us were changed with.” Breeze looked proud. “I think he is perhaps mixed with black leopard—humans call them panthers.”

Jessie managed to keep her mouth from falling open despite her shock. “Wouldn’t his hair be black? I mean, Valiant has orange-red hair similar to a lion. I met Flame and he has light red hair but he’s got the cat eyes. I could see that right off.”

Breeze bit her lip. “I can’t discuss this with you, Jessie.”

“Why not?”

Breeze hesitated again but blew out a breath. “You are a friend to us and save our women. I know you can be trusted. Some of us color our hair. That’s all I’m saying.”

Justice colors his hair? It explained why he looked different in person than on television and in some of the photos in the paper. He looked different because his hair color varied.

“Why would he…I mean, any of you do that?”

“Some of us need to appear more human but our natural coloring sometimes make that difficult. Please don’t repeat this to anyone. I could get in trouble.”

“I won’t tell a soul. You have my word on that. So as an example, someone with blonde hair could really have black hair?”

“Exactly. It would make one look more human and less threatening.”

Someone in the public eye. Someone who deals with humans all the time. Jessie tried to imagine Justice with black hair but it was hard to do. It suddenly explained why his long eyelashes were black. Sometimes she saw a little dark blue in the depths of his eyes but from a distance they appeared the darkest shade of brown ever, bordering on black.

With black hair he would look … An image flashed inside her head of Justice with black hair. Frightening. Scary. ferocious . Justice with light hair did look more human and less likely to scare someone. It makes sense.

Jessie had slept with a man changed with panther DNA. It explained the purring, the catlike eyes and his roaring after sex. He’d shredded the bedding and scored the mattress with his nails. Claws. Panthers were dangerous animals. Maybe he has good reason to fear hurting me.

“What are you thinking about?”

Jessie pulled her attention from her thoughts to force a smile for Breeze. “A man.”

A grin split Breeze’s face. “Spill, girlfriend.”

Jessie shook her head. “I can’t.”

“Oh. You are asking about our men for a reason, are you not? I heard that Flame was talking about you. He is feline and that is why you were asking about Valiant, is it not? You did slip and mention his name. I swear I won’t say a word to anyone. Flame is attractive and easy on the eyes. He has a good sense of fun too.”

Flame? Jessie didn’t know if she should be relieved at Breeze’s assumption. It beat her correctly guessing that Jessie was thinking about Justice. Jessie just smiled.

“Flame likes you. I heard that you made an impression on him.”

“You heard that? He offered to buy me a beer and introduce me around so I could make some friends.”

“You should let him.”

“There’s that whole I’m-human-and-he’s-Species thing going on.”

The smile on Breeze’s lips disappeared. “You would not be with one of my kind?”

“It’s not that.” She bit her lip, careful of what she said. “I was talking to a few of your males once,” she lied, making up a scenario that would fit her real dilemma. “They kind of made it clear that they wouldn’t sleep with a human female. He, I mean, they said they wouldn’t want to get involved with a human and were adamant about how they’d be too afraid to lose control and hurt her.”